Basecamp Banff 2014, Avalanche Training Week.

            It’s been another full on week for the group out here in Canada:
 
 
The level two training is rolling along nicely, each day the groups are pushing their skiing to new heights and this week we are going to start practicing teaching more intermediate/advanced lessons. We had a lot of good snow leftover from the epic storm last week and thanks to the trainers at Lake Louise everyone knows where to find them.

This past week our group took part in the Canadian Avalanche Association's Avalanche Skills Training(level 1) course in conjunction with the snow safety team at Lake Louise. They covered things like how to use avalanche safety equipment and how to safely navigate avalanche terrain. Lake Louise offers some amazing backcountry terrain just outside of the resort boundaries so if you have the right knowledge and know how to safely navigate the backcountry you can get the good straight off the chairlift.

The course is a two day endeavor and takes place mostly inside the ski area boundary.  The course is lead by the snow safety patrol at Lake Louise who are also members of the Canadian Avalanche Association. When these guys are not teaching these courses they are getting up early to make sure avalanche danger at the resort is non existent.

Over the two days the group learned how to identify potentially hazardous avalanche terrain, how to read the avalanche bulletin, how to use an avalanche transceiver/probe and how to rescue someone buried by snow.    

It’s was a really great experience for our guys to get a look at a different behind the scenes aspect of how ski resorts run. Just another day in the life of this living the dream here in Banff.
 
-Andrew